instigate
verb
Did you know?
It's time to investigate the true meaning of instigate. Instigate is often used as a synonym of incite (as in "siblings instigating a fight"), but the two words differ slightly in their overall usage. Incite usually stresses an act of stirring something up that one did not necessarily initiate ("the court's decision incited riots"), while instigate implies responsibility for initiating or encouraging someone else's action, and usually suggests dubious or underhanded intent ("he was charged with instigating a conspiracy"). Coming from a form of the Latin verb instigare ("to urge on or provoke"), instigate stepped into English in the 1500s, roughly a century after incite.
Examples of instigate in a Sentence
Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 26 Aug. 2025
Weeks after public calls for a White man who some say instigated the July 26 Downtown brawl to face charges, the 45-year-old has been charged with a low-level misdemeanor − and few seem satisfied.
—Cameron Knight, The Enquirer, 22 Aug. 2025
The project was instigated by Hybe America CEO Scooter Braun’s purchase and sale of her early catalog and represents Swift’s effort to control her own songs and how they’re used.
—Maria Sherman, Chicago Tribune, 12 Aug. 2025
Booker's remarks were instigated by an exchange with other Democratic senators over a package of law-enforcement funding bills.
—Emma Marsden, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for instigate
Cite this Entry
“Instigate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/instigate. Accessed 4 Sep. 2025.
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